From Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' to Joseph Conrad's 'fascination of the abomination', humankind has struggled to make sense of human-upon-human violence. This book explores the social, literary, and philosophical theories of violence.

"This comprehensive anthology is a must read. Recognizing and understanding the continuum of violence is a critical step in meaningfully addressing the fact that violence is not specific, for example, to war, but intimately woven throughout the fabric of society."
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997)

"This remarkable work explores the sources and surfaces of violence ? public, private, political, symbolic, psychic. Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois transform our most fundamental understanding of what it means to be a victim, an agent, or a witness. In these times of war and violence, this book has a resonance that echoes from the classroom to the state house and the street."
Homi K. Bhabha, Rothenberg Professor of Literature, Harvard University

"Violence in War and Peace brings together among the most profound empirical and philosophical texts on modern violence. Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois have created a volume that challenges fundamental issues concerning the crisis of humanity that violence exposes. This critical and politically responsible book should be read by students and researchers alike."
Bruce Kapferer, University of Bergen and James Cook University

Edited by two of anthropology's most passionate voices, Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology is the only book of its kind available: a single volume exploration of social, literary, and philosophical theories of violence.

Drawing from a remarkable range of sources, the editors juxtapose the routine violence of everyday life against the sudden outcropping of unexpected, extraordinary violence such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, the state violence of Argentina's Dirty War, revolution, vigilante "justice," and organized criminal violence.

In Violence in War and Peace, Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois offer a thoughtprovoking tool for students and thinkers from all walks of life. It is an exploration of violence at the broadest levels: personal, social, and political.